I just read some more of your stuff, and I think this is one of the best lines I've read anywhere in a while:

"...swimming is what you do when your boat sinks or before you get on your bike."

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"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts." -- Bertrand Russell

Thanks! It's always a pleasure to write.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Tom's a great writter. This is one of my favorites.

http://www.railriders.com/...amp;archive_link=yes

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"your horse is too high" - tigerchik

Tom, thanks for another great article. Work goes by much faster when I have good reading. I wish you'd write the back page of Triathlete Magazine instead of that other guy.

Thanks for posting the other article, Hid. That was also great.

"I wish you'd write the back page of Triathlete Magazine instead of that other guy."



WOW! Never seen Scott refered to as "that other guy" ;-)

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"your horse is too high" - tigerchik

its quite good....



i actually live in taupo new zealand!



if u want good training runs run the huka track,,

Great article Tom, thanks. I especially appreciate the idea of the Ironman Community. I got to thinking about this about 3/4 of the way thru the swim at IMFL last year. I looked around me and saw a bunch of other (slow) swimmers in wetsuits, and it reminded me of a pod of whales, just doing what whales do. Do we NEED to swim/bike/run 140.6? Hell no. Almost no. Not really. But for some of us, actually we NEED to do it. Ironman athletes from New York and New Zealand are more alike than New York (or NZ) neighbors, 1 an Ironman athlete, the other a video gamer. Thanks again. Look forward to the new articles.

Ironstevie, the whole point about an Ironman community is great. Tom, another excellent article. You described the entire Ironman week perfectly.



Right now, I live in a city (Ottawa Canada) where in any given year, we have between 60 and 90 Ironman finishers, out of a location population of around 1 M. We got the "biggest small town" in North America. You can work downtown and be riding in the woods in 8K (15 min from your office). I can usually line up 10 Ironman dudes on any morning or weekend ride or run. It is totally awesome. Back in 1991, when I did my first Ironman, there were two of us crazy nuts in this city. I went to Penticton and there were another 1200 of US. The guys and girls came from Germany , Australia , Chile , Japan, etc etc. Pretty well, all had the same stories. After 9 months of training and only one guy to bounce it off (this was before the internet), it was amazing that people from all around the world had the same type of stories and obstacles from the last year. We were all "there" for the "show". If you're from a small town and train solo all the time, you still get the same feeling on Ironman week

Tom, Nice article, and well written. I am reasonably new to this forum and really enjoy reading your stuff. Nothing puts a smile on my face quicker than reading about someone from overseas coming to our crazy little country (NZ) and having a real positive & enjoyable experience. Mate, the creamed rice is the business!! - yes it takes a little getting used to but c'mon, its got Cam Brown on the label, what else do you need?? On your next visit "Downunder" can i suggest some of our other local favourites: Meat Pie, Pavlova, Steinlager, Speights, Fish & Chips, Moro Bar, Oh, and you have to try Marmite on toast! Tom, if you have time, could you please take a look at my post Re: Storage of Training Wheels in the off Season. Good on yah Mate!!

You hit it right on the head Tom. Excellent.

clm

PS--I saw Hillary last weekend and she's doing OK. Surgery and a screw in her hip and on crutches, but hopes to be back this summer.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Hey ironclm,

Thank you for the update on Hillary. She is a central character in an upcoming NZ editorial. An incredible athlete.

A big part of the reason I did IMNZ were your glowing reviews and interesting commentary on the event ironclm, so thank you very much.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com